Many distribution networks rely on vehicles to transport shipments between participants of the network. For example, trucks may be used to ship products from vendors that supply the products to merchants that sell the products. In distribution networks of substantial size, there may be many vendors that supply products to a merchant. In some cases, such vendors may span a geographically diverse area. For instance, vendor facilities could be located in different cities of varying distances from a merchant's facility. The costs associated with shipping products from different vendors to a merchant may vary depending on the origin and destination of the shipment route. Typically, these costs are paid by vendors, merchants, or some combination thereof. In any case, the shipping expenses associated with shipping products from a vendor to a merchant are often passed to consumers as some component of the final price of a product. Reducing the final price of a product is one way in which merchants gain a competitive advantage over other merchants in the marketplace; reducing the shipping costs associated with acquiring products from vendors is one way in which merchants may reduce the final price of a product.
While the system and method for constraint-based reduction of a solution space for vehicle routing is described herein by way of example for several embodiments and illustrative drawings, those skilled in the art will recognize that the system and method for constraint-based reduction of a solution space for vehicle routing is not limited to the embodiments or drawings described. It should be understood, that the drawings and detailed description thereto are not intended to limit the system and method for constraint-based reduction of a solution space for vehicle routing to the particular form disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the system and method for constraint-based reduction of a solution space for vehicle routing as defined by the appended claims. The headings used herein are for organizational purposes only and are not meant to be used to limit the scope of the description or the claims. As used throughout this application, the word “may” is used in a permissive sense (i.e., meaning having the potential to), rather than the mandatory sense (i.e., meaning must). Similarly, the words “include,” “including,” and “includes” mean including, but not limited to.